The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

by Jennifer E. Smith

“AND O THERE ARE DAYS IN THIS LIFE, WORTH LIFE AND WORTH DEATH,”

In the end, it’s not the changes that will break your heart; it’s that tug of familiarity.

“Is it better to have had a good thing and lost it, or never to have had it?”

He’s like a song she can’t get out of her head. Hard as she tries, the melody of their meeting runs through her mind on an endless loop, each time as surprisingly sweet as the last, like a lullaby, like a hymn, and she doesn’t think she could ever get tired of hearing it.

“No one is useless in this world,” it reads, “who lightens the burden of it for any one else.”

“Love isn’t supposed to make sense. It’s completely illogical.”

“Maybe the point of the story isn’t that he wouldn’t help at first. Maybe it’s that he came around in the end.” She says this last part softly: “Maybe you both just needed more time to come around.”

“People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely to fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else.”

Oliver smiles. “Did you know that people who meet at least three different times within a twenty-four hour period are ninety-eight percent more likely to meet again?” This time she doesn’t bother correcting him. Just this once, she’d like to believe that he’s right.